Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-05-25
STRAIGHT AND CROOKED LEGS.
What Makes Men Bandy Legged and
KHock Kuoed-The Cure.

KHock Knoed-The Cure.
New York Evening sun.
Comparatively few men have really
straight legs. In walk from Four
teenth street to the Battery reporter
made q rough estimate and found that
not more that one in three OF the men
who passed him were straight limbed.
Most of them were bow or handy legged,
some of them were knock kneed, and in
few instances both legs bent the same
way. 1t was noticed that as 8 rule the
stout, heavy men had psrenthesis legs,
while those of slighter build in many
cases carried their bodies on figure re-
sembling an y.
This rule, however, does not always
hold. Many men of no inConsidersble
svordupois strike their knees together
when they walk. II is not uncommon to
see q long, laaky man whose legs are so
bent that he is physically lncapacitated
from stopping the traditional pig in an
alley way. Frequently oow-ieggedness is
associated with strength. 1t is usually
seen in short, sturdy men. Those who
are knock kueed ave no such recon-
pense unless the excuse for renewing
trousers, which are cons sntly being worn
out at the knees by chatting one against
the other, be considered as such.
well known surgeon, who mas had
long experience in 8 city hospital, was
asked TO explain the prevalencY OF
crooked legs. He said: at is fact that
very few persons have straight legs. My
attention is often called to Il. 1t is hard
10 say Just why it IS. Many say that il is
because children are made TO weIk when
they are too young. Mothers like to have
their little ones on their feet ct as early
an age as possible, and so sometimes
| force them to stand before their legs are
able to bear the weight Of their bodies.
! Nurses, toe, when they take children out
for an airing, often make them walk with
out their parents knowledge. UndOubt-
! edly this is sometimes the cause OF the de-
formity. Probably many man owes his
curved legs to careless nurse, who got
tired Of carrying him when he was Oaoy
and put him down when away from his
mother. Others say, with good reason
also, that IT IS due to baby carriages.
| The child is wheeled about until it is
quite old. It's body IS thus developed
while its legs are doing nothing, and
when finally 10 is made to use them they,
being still soft, bend under the weight Of
/ the body. l believe that this treatment
or children is responsible tCr more bow
| leggedness, or enemoscOliosis, IS we call
/ l., than anything else.
! "Every one knows that the bones of
/ the human body are made up Of cartilage
nous or neWy fibre and mineral matter,
and that when young TIE former predOm-
mates. The bones st that age have,
/ therefore, little rightly, and are very
easily bent. Unfortunately, they have
( little elasticity, eiCher, gnd readily take
set. The proportion OF cartilage and
mineral matter varies in different chill
dren, SO that It IS impossible TO give any
! fixed age at which they should be made
to walk. Many can walk well when twelve
months old, while others cannot do so
until they arr two ye@Ts old.
"Iu some children there is CT unusual
proportion of sinew in the bone, and in
these cases the legs are almost certain to
! become crooked. In these instances
/ braces can be used with advantage until
the bones harden. This simple remedy
is seldom used, however, sometimes
from the apathy OF the parents, but
chiefly because the tendency is not no
ticed until it is too late. The legs bend
one way or the other very gradually, and
when the curve is perCepLible il IS usually
past the cure of braces. This condition
of the bones is often due TO insufficient
food and general neglect. Unless the
blood is kept rich and healthy the bones
are apt TO be retarded in development and
so, remaining soft, are readily visited.
Sometimes bow-legged children be
come straight when they grow older. My
mother told me that when | was q child
\ 81 toll
Now, l venture to assert, they are
sJraighter than most mems. In my own
experience l have seen this occur, but il
is impossible TO foretell if the curve in
child's legs will straighten out IL al.er
years or not"
els there any means of Strengthening
legs when once they are set crooked:n
asked the reporter.
Eyes, and by q very simple process.
The curvature in bow-legged persons is
usually Just below the knee. To remove 1t
we take piece out of the outside OF the
5one-that II, the convex side-and hen
break the bone on the other side. This
euables Us TO make the leg perfectly
straight by using stiff splints, and it isn't
long before the legs are all right again
and as straight as can be desired. In
knock kneed persons the curvature is
above the knee and the same process can
be used. Il is not 50 often done, how
ever, as few people care to have the thigh
bone broken merely to increase their
personal beauty"
"Then you often cure bow-legged men
in this way?"
"Oh, yes. o. course when the curve
IS so marked Shat 1t actually interferes
with the walking some such operation is
necessary, but we frequently are called
upon 10 DO it simply TO improve q mans
appearance. Some sine ago a young
man wrote TO me from the west, begging
me to suggest some means OF making his
legs straight He could walk we'll
enough, but be wasn't satisfied with his
appearance. / told him what ne would
have to undergo, and, although he hest
tated at first, he finally consented and
went through it mantully. He is very
proud Of his straight legs now, slthougl
he never tells how he got them. Braces
can sometimes be used to straigaten the
legs of young boys, but when the bone
has become really hardened they are not
of much use.n ~
A Testimonial from Well Known Actor
Xii, thesArkansas Traveller.